Safety cap for ball players



Oct. 22, 1940. v. BRUNZELL SAFETY CAP FOR BALL PLAYERS Filed Jan. 19,1939 IN VENTOR. VICTOR BRUNZELL.

i llr ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 22, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This inventionrelates to headgear, and more particularly to head protecting devicesfor individuals who engage in sports, such as the game of baseball.

Baseball players and others engaged in similar sporting endeavors arefrequently victims of serious and even fatal injuries caused, whenpitched or batted balls come into violent contact with the head of theplayer, especially in the region of the temples. The caps that are nowcommonly worn by players offer no protection against such injuries.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a cap, havingmeans for protecting the wearer against injury caused by being hit by arapidly moving ball, especially in the region of the temples.

To these ends the invention consists of a ball player's cap or similarheadgear having, as a unit, a band portion and a peak for protecting theI head against injury.

A further object lies in the provision of a cap or similar headgearhaving, as a unit, a band portion and a peak, the peak being shapedconcavo convexly in front, and planarly at the sides, whereby the sidesare made substantially rigid and inflexible.

It is another aim to provide a headgear of this character having, as aunit a band of substantially hard material and a peak, being shapedconcavely-convexly in front and having lateral, wing-like extensions atthe sides, to protect the temples of the wearer.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a headgear havinga band of hard material and a resilient band secured thereto, for absorbing and distributing the force of impact of a moving ball about thehead of the player generally.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cap for ballplayers having the protective and safety features hereinafter to be morefully described, and which, when compared with caps now commonly usedfor this purpose, will be found to be almost identical in appearance andweight.

With the above objectives in view, as well as others which will becomeapparent as the desoription progresses, the preferred embodiment of thepresent disclosure is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the preferred embodiment of theinvention, in use.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of thereof.

the frame Figure 3 is a sectional view, taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of a cap, consiin'ucted in accordancewith the present inven-- t on.

Figure 5 is a sectional view along line 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on line 6 of Figure4.

Figure 7 is a detail view taken on line Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a detail view taken on line 8-8 of Figure 2; and

Figure 9 is a detail view taken on line 9-8 of Figure 2. 1

Referringin greater detail to the drawing, the numeral l0 indicatesgenerally the frame of a cap, which consists of a substantially ovalshaped band I i of essentially hard material, such as hard fibre or thelike, having formed integrally 20 therewith a peak II. The peak isformed concavo-convexly in front, and is provided with planarly shapedside portions l8, bent at a sharp angle, as at i3, for a purpose to behereinafter described. 25

Referring now more specifically to Figure 1 of the drawing, the headgearll consists of a skull covering l5 made of textile fabric or othersuitable material, and said skull covering is provided with the usualopenings IQ for purposes of venti- 30 lation, as is well known in theart.

Continuous around the band II is a member l8 of resilient material, suchas foam rubber, sponge rubber and the like, and there is also providedthe usual sweat band [9, completely 35 encircling the resilient memberHi.

In order to give positive protection to the regions of the temples, thepeak I2 is provided with sharp bends, as at l3 between the side membersl3 and the front member l2. Thus, when the cap 40 is worn, that partthereof, which is intended to cover the region of the temples, isangularly offset and protrudes away from the temples, as can be seen inFigure l of the drawing. The construction of the peak, which providesfor a concavo-convexly shaped front member and planarly shaped sidemembers, causes the peak and the said side members to be completelyrigid and mflexible.

The cap is assembled substantially in the following manner:

A piece of textile or other fabric is cut to conform to the shape of thehuman skull. In addition thereto, suflicient material is provided ifdesired, to permit the outer face of the front through the cap,

portion I2 01' the peak to be covered therewith, as at IT, as wellas'the inner race-oi! the peak (not shown). Material also is provided tocover the outside of the band II, as at 2|, and the material is thenbent inwardly to be cemented, glued or otherwise secured to the innerface of the said band ll. Thereupon the resilient member I 8 is securedin a similar manner to the inner face of the material, and the sweatband I 9 is secured to the resilient member. Obviously, these steps maybe taken inan order other than that, which is here described, in orderto produce the same results.

It will be seen that there is thus provided an extremely useful cap forbaseball playerswhich, due to the presence of a head encirclingprotective band, affords protection against injuries caused by theimpact of a misdirected ball. Since the regions of the temples have beenfound to be the most vulnerable places in accidents of this kind,special protection for them has been provided in the presence, as aunit, 01' a head encircling band and a peak, shaped concavoconvexly infront, and planarly at the sides, rendering that part of the bandintended to cover the temples, completely rigid and inflexible. There isalso provided a shock absorbing resilient member, to absorb the force ofthe impact.

' While the present invention has been illustrated and described as acap for baseball players, its use is not thereby intended to berestricted, since obviously it may be used with the same highlydesirable results in any other athletic endeavor, where the dangerexists, that misdirected missiles may cause injury to the-head of aparticipant, and it may even be used for ordinary street wear. Nor doesapplicant desire this disclosure to restrict him to the exactconstruction herein indicated, it being obvious that minor changes maybe made within the scope of the appended claim, without departure fromthe spirit of this invention. For instance, the band may be made ofwider cross-section than illustrated, to protect a wider area of thehead.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto secure by letters Patent, is:

A cap comprising a substantially rigid endless truncated conical bandhaving a downwardly offset peak at the front and lateral angularlydownturned wing-like extensions at the ends 01 said peak integraltherewith and with said band, a resilient band interjacent said rigidband, a covering having its lower edges secured between said bands, anda sweat band secured to the inner surface 01' said resilient band.

' VICTOR BRUNZELL.

